The US has been largely silent on Gurpatwant Pannun’s subversive activities from US soil against India such as death threats against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Image: PTI file)
The US claimed the plot was to lure Pannun to a place where he could easily be executed, but the plan later changed due to urgency to target Pannun “in his house, office or a cafe he frequents”.
“Victim, advocate and political activist” is how the US has described Khalistan terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannoon in a lengthy indictment on a plot to assassinate him, largely glossing over his subversive activities on US soil against India such as death threats against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The indictment did not allege Indian government involvement in the assassination plot, placing the blame largely on former Indian government official Vikash Yadav and private individual Nikhil Gupta. This is in stark contrast to the position of the Canadian government, which has directly accused the Indian government of alleged assassination plots in Canada without providing any credible evidence. India said Yadav acted of his own free will and was cooperating with the US.
The US indictment alleges that Yadav and Gupta’s initial plan was to approach Pannun under the guise of obtaining legal advice and lure him to a location “where he could be more easily executed.” But the plan later changed to target Pannun “at his house, office or a cafe he visited”. The US claims it foiled the assassination plot by arresting Gupta in the Czech Republic. Visual evidence in the form of money exchange such as advance payment and electronic evidence are part of the indictment.
How the US describes Pannun
“The victim (Panun) is a vocal critic of the Indian government and heads a US-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India that is home to a large population of Sikhs, an ethno-religious minority group in India. The victim publicly called for part or all of Punjab to secede from India and create a sovereign Sikh state called Khalistan, and the Government of India banned the victim and his separatist organization from India,” the indictment mentioned.
Plot gone awry?
The indictment alleges that Yadav implicated Gupta in the conspiracy, who in turn contacted a criminal associate in the US who was actually a “confidential source” (CS) working with US law enforcement. The CS’s help was allegedly sought to hire a hitman for the job, and the CS connected Gupta to an undercover US law enforcement officer. The deal was made at $1,00,000 and $15,000 was paid upfront on June 9 to that killer through an associate of Yadav, the US said.
Gupta has been described by the US as a person involved in international drug and arms trafficking. The indictment makes it clear that throughout the operation, the US was building evidence against Yadav and Gupta regarding the assassination plot now revealed in the document. Pannun’s home address, phone numbers and details of his daily behavior were shared by Yadav with Gupta and passed on to the killer, the indictment said.
Change of plan in June
Although the initial plan was to lure Pannun to a place where he could easily be executed, the indictment said there was an element of urgency in June when Yadav and Gupta pressured the CS and the killer to “finish the job, it doesn’t take long”. A GPS app was used to conduct surveillance on Pannun, the indictment alleges. The US said the plan was further accelerated after the June 18 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijar, a close associate of Pannun, in Canada.
The indictment said the killer was told to go ahead and eliminate Pannun “even today, tomorrow – as soon as possible. Gupta is said to have told the killer to expect Pannun to “be more careful after killing Nijar”.
“He will be more cautious because in Canada his colleague has fallen. This will make him more cautious, so we shouldn’t give them a chance. If he’s not alone, if there’s two guys with him on the date or something like that… take them all down,” Gupta is said to have told the killer, according to the indictment.
A June 29 deadline was also set for the work, the US said. The new instruction, the indictment said, was for Pannun to be killed “as soon as it can be verified that he is at his residence” and the killer was asked to be ready for “both locations – either the home or the office.” .
The US said it eventually foiled the plot and Gupta was arrested on June 30.
